Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year : 2013, Volume : 3, Issue : 1
First page : ( 68) Last page : ( 78)
Print ISSN : 0000-0000. Online ISSN : 2249-7315.

Meditrip: An emerging paradigm in Indian tourism industry

Dr. Chandra R. Satish

Professor & HOD, Department of Management Studies, Vivekananda Institute of Technology, Visvesvaraya Technological University, Kumbalagodu, Bangalore.

Abstract

Medical tourism is said to be the second most popular industry now-a-days. The increase in the number of medical tourists each year denotes that the medical tourism industry will soon be on the boom. The patients who long for quick and effective cure of the diseases visit India on medical tourism. The world class infrastructure and highly qualified team of doctors available in India favors the booming demand for medical tourism services. India spends 1.2% of its GDP on health, but takes care of foreign patients — the country ranks second in medical tourism. In 2007, Indian hospitals treated 4.5 lakh patients from other countries against topper Thailand's 12 lakh.

Some of the study on healthcare researchers revealed there's always been an inflow of patients from abroad mainly from European counties and some West Asian countries. Over the period of time this inflow has increased to many folds and seen a significant rise in patients from US, UK and other parts of the world.

The greatest impetus for the growth of medical tourism in India is the difference in the cost and the increasing world-class medical facilities available in here. For example rhinoplasty costs 2.64 Lakh in US, but will only cost around 50,000 Rs in India. Likewise a face lift costs 5.28 Lakh in USA but costs only 1.5 Lakh rupees in India. Hence, medical tourism showcases the potential of Indian healthcare sector to the world. With this background this paper will reveals the changing scenario of Indian tourism towards adopting new segment called the ‘Medical Tourism.’

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